Platypus

Rating ESRB: Adults Only Genre action Publisher MumboJumbo External Links Official MumboJumbo Website

Ever wonder what it would be like to fly through the skies, protecting your homeland from an invading army with nothing but your wits and quick reflexes to save you? Already done that you say? Alright, how about we make you and all your enemies out of clay? Do we have your attention now?

Platypus is a port of an internet game created by MumboJumbo in which the player controls the "Platypus", an advance piece of claynology used to protect your country from a never-ending invading army. Platypus follows the standard rules of the side-scrolling shooters, providing the player several hours of multi-directional movements, a steady stream of bullets, and plenty of ships to blast out of the skies.

Platypus is clearly designed to sell itself on the sole concept that it is the first, and only, side-scrolling shooter created completely out of clay. Every piece of animation was painstakingly sculpted in order to give a truly unique look and feel to the game. The music is appropriately cartooney and matches the overall "child-like" feel. While everything in the game does look rather clay like, the details that would have made all the hard work worth it are lost on the small screen of the PSP.

Beyond the claymation graphics, Platypus offers nothing new to the genre. There is absolutely no story in the purposed "Story Mode." There is no explanation as to why there is a war going on in the skies, no reason why you are the only person who can protect your home from these invaders, and absolutely no explanation of what your goals are. At the start of the first level you are immediately attacked by flying saucers and from that point on its kill or be killed.

Like many side-scrolling shooters, the player is provided many opportunities to come back from the dead after being inevitably destroyed. This is most important since the poorly designed 3-D levels do a wonderful job of obscuring enemies behind the scenery. This becomes an even more annoying problem in Survival mode, as you are more likely to dodge into the path of a hidden enemy's fire. Platypus does, at least, offer countless hours of simple mindless play. The controls are basic, allowing you to move in any direction via the thumb-stick or the D-Pad. Holding down the attack button gives you simple automatic fire. Power-ups are available throughout the levels, giving you generally useless new weapons.

While Platypus is not so much of a game as it is a device made for wasting time, it does succeed in accomplishing the task at hand. Players will find themselves drawn into the repetitive game play, striving to make it just a little bit further than last time. And, if you enjoy dragging your friends along on such adventures, Platypus sports a Co-op mode via the PSP wireless connections. While offering nothing inspiring to demand a $19.99 price point, Platypus is still a somewhat enjoyable way to pass the time.